ABUJA—DEPUTY Senate President, Senator Ike Ekweremadu has stressed the need for the security of lives and property to be strengthened as well as close the widening divisions in the country in the New Year.

UMUAHIA—GOVERNOR Okezie Ikpeazu has charged the new Abia State commandant of the National Security and Civil Defense Corps, NSDC, Mr. Nnamdi Cyprian to deploy more proactive approach to the fight against pipe line vandalism in the state.

The siege by the  police  to  the Abuja residence of Senator Dino Melaye, representing Kogi West in the National Assembly, entered its fourth day, yesterday, with the police showing no sign of vacating the home.

Ekiti State government yesterday expressed displeasure over disruption of peace and the tension created by the youths of Igbemo and Orun-Ekiti in Irepodun/Ifelodun Local Government Area of Ekiti State.

Manufacturers Association of Nigeria, MAN, yesterday, released its 2019 Economic Outlook report detailing recommendations to achieve sustainable economic growth and budgetary objectives of the fiscal proposals for next year.

Christian Association of Nigeria, CAN, has cautioned the Federal Government to resist the temptation of involving the army in the forthcoming elections to prevent undue intimidation of the voters.

Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries, OPEC, has harped on the positive roles of Angola, as the Secretary-General, OPEC, Dr. Mohammad Sanusi Barkindo, visits Luanda, Angola.

CALABAR — TRADITIONAL rulers in feuding villages of Odukpani Local Government Area of Cross River State have used the New  Year eve to swear an oath that they would stop  incessant inter-communal conflicts in the area and  maintain the peace, beginning from the new year.

The protracted outbreak of Ebola Virus Disease in the Democratic Republic of Congo, DRC, may get worse and reverse progress against the virus if fighting continues around the disease hotspots of Beni and Butembo, the World Health Organisation, WHO, has warned.

Wife of the Lagos State Governor, Mrs Bolanle Ambode, recently tasked new graduates of the International Centre for Credentialing and Education of Addiction Professional (ICCE) to utilise their acquired knowledge to curb drug addiction among Nigerian youths.

AN Urhobo folklore relates the story of how the legendary tortoise (he is always invariably involved in mischievous stories in our folklore) had an amorous relationship with a married woman and was caught red-handed. He was beaten to pulp, and tied to a stick in the village square. The day was a market day, and the women going to the market at dawn, passing through the village square, rained abuses on tortoise. They spat on him and even threw sand on him as a final act of humiliation. Tortoise was finished.

THE newly-elected President of Movement for the Survival of the Ogoni People, MOSOP, Fegalo Nsuke, has pledged commitment to self-determination and freedom for the Ogoni people.

GOVERNOR Rotimi Akeredolu of Ondo state yesterday commuted the death sentence of three condemned prisoners to life imprisonment and pardoned 12 others in the spirit of the New Year celebration.

2019